Leadership

Project Management

PMs in the C-Suite? The Future of Project Leadership

Win the Battle Before It Begins: How to Maximize the First 21 Days of Any Project

Why We Love Bad Ideas: Exploring the Biases that Shape Our Behavior

Humanity is defined by its creative achievements—but when it comes to decision-making, we’re suckers for a bad idea. A growing body of research suggests that all of us are influenced by our brain in ways we’re only just beginning to understand. Scientists refer to these unseen forces as “cognitive biases.” Like invisible germs carrying the flu, these biases spread throughout our teams and organizations, impacting our ability to think rationally, critically, and creatively. This presentation explores these predispositions and their unseen impacts on the way we do business, while identifying actionable ways to work with—rather than against—our brain’s natural impulses.

At the conclusion of this program, participants should be able to:

Discover why we so readily embrace terrible ideas, and the impact these biases have on our ability to effectively lead.

Implement actionable practices to help you and your team think rationally, critically, and creatively

You Can Trust Me: Communicating When No One Can See Your Face

Trust is essential to effective communication across your team and your stakeholders—but how can you communicate trust when no one can see your face? This engaging session will examine how the four cores of trust are impacted in a digital, global communication environment. Participants will be given the opportunity to immediately apply what they’ve learned to improve communication across their teams.

At the conclusion of this program, participants should be able to:

Analyze how the four cores of trust are impacted when digital or virtual communication is employed.

Apply specific tools and techniques to improve communication and convey trust even in digital and virtual settings.

Grace Under Fire: Leadership When the Emotional Stakes are High

As leaders, we are not immune to conflict. In fact, conflict resolution is a popular requested topic for training and coaching, and most organizations make resources available to help us resolve it efficiently. But there is another side to conflict, beyond working out individual disagreements (i.e., conflict de-escalation). When fear, resentment, frustration, and lack of accountability simmers, the impact on our teams, as well as individuals, can be devastating. Grace Under Fire deals with this issue directly. Using personal stories along with business case research, Sara weaves a story of how we can bring our humanity to work in a constructive way. When emotions run high, there are opportunities that can actually strengthen relationships and propel our teams (and ourselves) to new levels of performance.

PMs in the C-Suite? The Future of Project Leadership

“On time, on scope, on budget.” This is the relentless mantra of the project manager—but is our hyper-focus on tactical success hurting our bottom line? When project managers are more concerned about meeting a deadline than adding value, the answer is yes. As projects grow increasingly complex, organizations are recognizing that it takes more than a project manager to drive organizational success—it takes a project leader. Project leaders understand the big-picture dynamics influencing the project agenda, and aren’t afraid to recommend that projects be killed when they fall out of alignment with organizational strategy. And they’re poised to make their appearance in C-suites across the continent.

Win the Battle Before It Begins: How to Maximize the First 21 Days of Any Project

The ink isn’t even dry on your Project Charter—but what if the seeds of project destruction have already been sown? The odds are not in our favor. PMI® reports that nearly 15% of projects are deemed failures, while nearly a third don’t achieve their original business objectives.* Under the sheer weight of project initiation and planning activities, it’s all too easy to get distracted from the key objectives that can help you win the battle before it begins. After years of helping companies “unstick” troubled projects, Sara Gallagher knows that the first 21 days are critical. Learn how you can leverage them to beat the odds!

In this session, you will learn:

Why the first 21 days are critical to a project’s long-term resilience

The most common mistakes that project managers make in the first 21 days and, more importantly, how to correct for them

The critical objectives that must be achieved early related to project framing, planning, and infrastructure—and how to achieve them